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Edward Buckman was a powerful and wealthy businessman whose success led him to become a member of the New York branch of the Hellfire Club. Buckman and his lover, Paris Seville, eventually rose to the leadership of the Council of the Chosen, the secret cabal leading the club, and took on the titles of White King and White Queen, respectively.

Eventually, Buckman invited Sebastian Shaw, as well as Howard Stark, Warren Worthington Jr. and Sir John Braddock into the Club, seeking to recruit them for their power, wealth and ambition. Later on, Buckman brought Shaw into the Council of the Chosen with the title of Black Bishop. Buckman sought more funding for Project Armageddon, which aimed to destroy mutants using the latest iteration of Sentinels, however, due to Shaw's own mutant status, Buckman told him that Project Armageddon sought to isolate the x-factor in order to use it to create a super-powered army for the Hellfire Club.

After the confrontation between the X-Men and Project Armageddon's Mark III Sentinels, Buckman and his partner, Steven Lang, sent their Sentinels to kill Shaw and his allies: Tessa, Harry Leland and Emma Frost. In the resulting fight, Shaw's lover, Lourdes Chantel was killed.

Seeking revenge and the control of Hellfire Club, Shaw and Frost presented themselves before the Council of the Chosen. Frost took mental control of Buckman and forced him to shoot each member of the Council, including Paris Seville, and then to turn the gun on himself and commit suicide. With the Council wiped out, Shaw and Frost elevated themselves to the positions of Black King and White Queen of the Club and replaced the Council with their Inner Circle, which Shaw dubbed The Lords Cardinal.